THE ART OF HEARTBREAK
Teen puts love life to music
Nearly a year ago, Calgary singersongwriter Kate Stevens stood before a packed house at the Boyce Theatre during the Calgary Stampede with ukulele in hand and offered a glimpse into the messy love life of a teenager.
Granted, she didn’t sound like a teenager. She didn’t sound particularly heartbroken either. The song was called Lovesick, a soulfully sung and authentically bluesy and joyful call-and-response number that Stevens had penned during a performing arts camp the year before. After instructing the crowd they were expected to sing along, Stevens cheerfully informed everyone it was “about a pretty nasty breakup. But that makes for the best material.”
“When I’m writing about breakups or writing about anything, I’m not trying to make it into a massproduced, I-hope-everybody-connects-with-this song. "Stevens, 17, said in an interview with Postmedia. “But it’s what I’m feeling and maybe somebody else who is going through that experience will feel it, too.”
The song earned Stevens a third-runner-up prize at the Calgary Stampede Talent Search and has found its way onto her debut EP, Handmade Rumours, which will be officially launched Saturday with two shows at the Festival Hall in Inglewood.
At the time of this interview, Stevens was a few hours from attending her high school graduation dinner and dance.
She speaks highly of her time at Bishop Carroll High School, where she was enrolled in a self-directed learning program that allowed plenty of flexibility for her to pursue her musical ambitions.
But her time there apparently also provided enough drama to inspire the surprisingly assured songs of heartbreak found on her debut release, whether it be the more breezy acoustic-pop number Sugarcane or jazzy and mournful Last Goodbye.
“Most of the songs on the album are about relationships,” said Stevens. “The relationships weren’t too great, but I really like the songs.”
Stevens entered OCL Studios in Chestermere this winter to record five of those songs. Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, an acclaimed Calgary singer-songwriter and fellow alumnus of the Calgary Stampede Talent Search, was enlisted to produce. Sound engineering was done by Josh Rob Gwilliam, who has worked with the Road Hammers and George Canyon.
The resulting songs have a distinct wise-beyond-her-years vibe, even if Stevens admits to occasionally acting like, well, an overwhelmed teenager while in the studio.
“Some of the songs are really heavy” she said with a laugh. “I, like, cried in the studio and was like, ‘I’m so unprofessional, I’m so sorry!’ (Gwilliam) said, ‘I’ve seen every single emotion in this place. Don’t worry.’ It was the whole experience. You have to do 56 takes, you’re drained afterwards. I’ve recorded before but not to that extent. You just want to leave everything on there.”
Stevens said she will be taking a year off to pursue a music career but hopes to attend Humber College’s jazz program in Toronto after that.
Like many a precocious musician, Stevens’s backstory comes complete with anecdotes suggesting her embrace of music was a foregone conclusion. There are apparently home videos of little Kate giddily screaming along to Van Morrison’s Gloria. At the age of two, she fearlessly performed a tap-dance number to the Chordettes’ Lollipop at a talent show. Since music was always being played at the house, Stevens grew up with an early appreciation of everyone from Carole King to Amy Winehouse and Ella Fitzgerald.
At the age of 12, she found a ukulele at a Calgary garage sale, which eventually became her instrument of choice.
“You see the really tall girl with the blond hair playing ukulele, you’re going to kind of remember it,” she said with a laugh.
A few years back, she helped establish Yo Momma (Youth Musicians of Music Mile Alliance), a networking group that gives young performers a chance to perform and be mentored by older pros in the business.
“We’re getting these kids gigs and helping them succeed, and hopefully make a more vibrant youth music scene in Calgary,” she said.
All of which suggests that Stevens is in it for the long run. There is no plan B, she said.
“My life gets kind of crazy sometimes, but I honestly can’t see myself doing anything but music,”